Winklevoss twins accuse Shrem of stealing Bitcoin worth $32m

Mr Shrem, who became an adviser to the twins in 2012, is alleged to have stolen 5,000 Bitcoin. Brian Klein, Mr Shrem’s lawyer, says the accusations made by the Winklevoss brothers are unsubstantiated.

“The lawsuit erroneously alleges that about six years ago Charlie essentially misappropriated thousands of Bitcoins,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.” The Winklevoss brothers claim that after just a few months of working with Mr Shrem, they were short-changed.

In September 2012, the twins gave Mr Shrem $250,000 to invest in Bitcoin at a price of $12.50 at the time. A month later, the investor returned to the pair with $189,000 worth of Bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency was again trading at $12.50, which meant approximately 5,000 Bitcoin had gone missing. Mr Shrem failed to account for the Bitcoin when confronted by the brothers, who were forced to launch an investigation into their missing assets. Through an external investigator tracking the blockchain, a…